Backstaff

The backstaff is a navigational instrument that was used to measure the altitude of a celestial body, in particular the sun or moon. When observing the sun, users kept the sun to their back (hence the name) and observed the shadow cast by the upper vane on a horizon vane. It was invented by the English navigator John Davis who described it in his book Seaman's Secrets in 1594.

Backstaff is the name given to any instrument that measures the altitude of the sun by the projection of a shadow. It appears that the idea for measuring the sun's altitude using back observations originated with Thomas Harriot. Many types of instruments evolved from the cross-staff that can be classified as backstaves. Only the Davis quadrant remains dominant in the history of navigation instruments. Indeed, the Davis quadrant is essentially synonymous with backstaff. However, Davis was neither the first nor the last to design such an instrument and others are considered here as well.

Captain John Davis invented a version of the backstaff in 1594. Davis was a navigator who was quite familiar with the instruments of the day such as the mariner's astrolabe, the quadrant and the cross-staff. He recognized the inherent drawbacks of each and endeavoured to create a new instrument that could reduce those problems and increase the ease and accuracy of obtaining solar elevations.

One early version of the quadrant staff is shown in Figure 1. It had an arc affixed to a staff so that it could slide along the staff (the shape is not critical, though the curved shape was chosen). The arc (A) was placed so that it would cast its shadow on the horizon vane (B). The navigator would look along the staff and observe the horizon through a slit in the horizon vane. By sliding the arc so that the shadow aligned with the horizon, the angle of the sun could be read on the graduated staff. This was a simple quadrant, but it was not as accurate as one might like. The accuracy in the instrument is dependent on the length of the staff, but a long staff made the instrument more unwieldy. The maximum altitude that could be measured with this instrument was 45°.

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